1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel feeding portal and tray arrangement installed at the bottom of a tubular type bird feeder wherein the feeding portal is designed to provide spillage of food to birds feeding at the tray in an amount such that the feeder is substantially self cleaning of food debris, and unattractive kinds of seed often contained in mixes are purged, to prevent their excessive accumulation within the feeder. The novel feeding portal and tray arrangement disclosed herein also has application for improving performance of hopper type bird feeders by providing a self cleaning feeding area at the bottom of the hopper, thereby increasing feeder attractiveness to birds, and by allowing a fuller view of feeding activity. The present invention furthermore relates to a novel trough type feeding portal, optional as an additional design improvement to tubular type bird feeders, which enhances results with respect to self cleaning and as a feeding portal to attract greater numbers and variety of birds than conventional feed ports of the type typically installed in tubular feeders.
2. Background of the Related Art
Many different types and designs of bird feeders have been developed. Examples of several designs of bird feeders that have been patented include: Kilham, U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,641 and Des. 231,369; Clarke, U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,927; Coffer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,019; Tucher, Des. U.S. Pat. No. 352,138; Washam, U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,986; Loiselle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,596; and, Bloedorn, U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,381.
A serious problem common to many tubular type bird feeders is a loss of attractiveness to birds when food debris, and unattractive kinds of seed contained in mixes, accumulate in the feeding portals from which birds extract food. Also, a food spoilage problem that can occur in dead-ended food inventory below the lowest portals. In an extreme case, birds may find no attractive food at the portals. To lessen these problems and maintain a high level of attractiveness to birds, it is necessary for the feeder operator to frequently clean the feeder by removing feeder contents. Washing the feeder with a disinfectant is recommended if food spoilage occurred. Hopper type feeders have similar problems wherein food debris and unattractive kinds of seed accumulate at the platform feeding area of the feeder diminishing attractiveness to birds, and with wetting by rain results in spoilage of food and food debris. Extended accumulation also leads to the sprouting of seed.
Loiselle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,596, titled xe2x80x9cSelf Cleaning Bird Feeder and Method,xe2x80x9d addresses the issue of frequent cleaning by using a metal mesh to form the bottom platform of the feeder. The mesh has openings which are small enough to retain the whole grain seed, yet large enough to allow seed husks and other debris to pass through. The Loiselle feeder, however, requires the use of whole seed of a specific size range relative to size and shape of mesh openings. This method, based on sifting, precludes using a given feeder to satisfactorily dispense seed that is larger or smaller than that for which the feeder is designed, and does not lend itself to use of food mixes which contain seed in a wide range of sizes.
Another problem is that the xe2x80x9cinsertxe2x80x9d type of feeding ports typically used in tubular feeders are relatively unattractive to some desirable species of birds, such as cardinals. Furthermore, the insert type port restricts bird access to only a very small portion of the feeder contents, aggravating problems that give rise to the need for periodic cleaning, referred to above.
Additionally, there are problems related to the design of seed trays, generally offered for sale as an option to be installed at the bottom of tubular feeders, which serve to collect food, together with food debris, spilled, or dropped, by birds at feed ports above, providing a feeding area for birds to scavenge food. These problems include the following:
1) Typically seed trays for tubular feeders are poorly drained, prone to wetting by rain, resulting in spoilage of food and food debris, and spouting of seed.
2) Ground feeding birds are attracted to feeding at a seed tray; often these are larger birds such as mourning doves. Seed trays for tubular feeders typically are designed for flush mounting to the bottom of the feeder which places the tray in close proximity to feed ports such that large birds, such as doves, landing at the tray frighten away birds at the feed ports.
3) Seed trays for collecting food spillage from hopper type feeders, that are not pole mounted, generally are designed to be suspended from the feeder by chains or wires extending to the corners or edge of the tray. Tests have shown that such obstructions along the edge of the tray discourage birds from flying onto the tray.
There is also a problem that hopper type feeders tend to provide relatively poor viewing of feeding activity wherein the feeder""s hopper typically obstructs viewing of half the birds at the feeder. Large cross-section tubular type feeders have the same problem of obstructed viewing of birds.
The various problems described above, being opportunities to significantly improve performance of bird feeders and increase enjoyment from feeding wild birds, have been addressed by the present invention.
The present invention has application for improving performance of two fundamentally different types of feeders, namely:
1. Multistage Bird Feeder
A self-cleaning multistage bird feeder which includes several feeding areas attractive to a wide variety of birds is disclosed. The term xe2x80x9cmultistagexe2x80x9d refers to a bird feeder having a plurality of feed portals located at more than one level along the length of the feeder and in which food moves downward through the length of the feeder as birds remove food from the feed portals, tubular feeders being an example. The present feeder is uniquely designed to be substantially self-cleaning by preventing an excessive accumulation of food debris, and unattractive kinds of seeds often contained in bird seed mixes, and by having no dead-ended food inventory.
The present invention is essentially comprised of two novel concepts that greatly improve performance of multistage bird feeders, namely: (1) a novel trough type feed portal, and (2) a novel purge feed portal and suspended seed tray at the bottom of the feeder. The trough type portal attracts greater numbers and variety of birds than conventional portals, and the purge portal provides self-cleaning. Either of the two concepts can be employed alone, but preferably they are employed in combination. Employed alone the purge portal has application for improving conventional tubular feeders to be self cleaning. The advantages from employing the two concepts in combination are a feeder having greater overall attractiveness to birds and enhanced results from self cleaning wherein mixes with a higher content of unattractive kinds of seed can be used than would be possible with conventional feed ports which provide more restricted access to food than the trough type portal. Each of the concepts can be adapted for use in multistage feeders of various sizes and shapes, e.g., various feeder cross-sectional shapes including round, square, rectangular; and there are various possibilities regarding articulation of component parts for assembly of the feeder. The following described feeder is therefore illustrative and not to be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention.
The bird feeder presented herein is essentially comprised of a set of truncated hollow cones stacked on the same axis end to end, large end up, with adjacent cones being spaced apart to define circumferential spaces or annular feeding troughs between the relatively smaller end of one cone and a relatively larger end of the next adjacent cone. There are at least two, and preferably three or more cones thereby forming a number of such annular feeding troughs. The feeder includes a cover over the uppermost cone and a disc under the lowermost cone. A tray is suspended below the disc providing a feeding area supplied by food that falls from the disc and annular feeding troughs above. The feeding troughs and the disc are provided with suitably positioned perches.
Food moves downward through the feeder from the uppermost cone to the disc and ultimately to the tray, the movement of food being caused by birds feeding from the troughs and disc area. The disc is spaced a short distance under the lowermost cone.
The space between the disc and bottom edge of the lowermost cone creates a slot-shaped opening through which food and accumulated debris from feeding is purged from the feeder. The slot-shaped opening and disc constitute the purge portal. Food flows onto the disc by activity of birds feeding at the slot and from the disc. Spillage from the disc is the major source of food falling onto the tray suspended under the feeder. Rate of spillage from the disc is a function of height of the slotted opening between the disc and lowermost cone and design of the disc. Purging (spillage to the tray) that provides an adequate supply of food at the tray, results in self-cleaning the feeder while tolerating a relatively high content of unattractive kinds of seed often found in mixes.
The primary objectives and advantages of the invention are therefore to provide a multistage bird feeder that has superior attractiveness to birds, and is substantially self-cleaning through the natural activity of the feeding birds and which is adapted to use a wide variety of commonly used bird food. Additionally, the design of the feeder gives high efficiency in use of food, allows use of lower quality feed with respect to cleaning, presumably lower priced food. The preferred design apportions food inventory within the feeder such that food storage capacity above the uppermost feed portal is relatively large to reduce frequency of filling, tapering to a narrow cross section that allows good relatively unobstructed viewing of birds. The suspended tray, with its center post support, enhances attractiveness to birds compared to the usual arrangement of installing a tray flush with the bottom of the feeder. An apertured tray is used so as to promote rapid drying of food following rain and prevent food spoiling and sprouting of seed.
2. Hopper-Type Bird Feeders
A hopper type feeder that has a self cleaning platform feeding area and that is improved to have fuller viewing of feeding activity is disclosed.
The purge feed portal with suspended tray described above has application for improving the design and performance of hopper type feeders wherein the conventional platform feeding area of the feeder is replaced by a purge portal with suspended tray, thereby improving the feeder so as to have a self cleaning platform feeding area and provide fuller viewing of feeding activity. Approximately 90% of the birds can be viewed versus about 50% for the typical conventional hopper type feeder. The tray provides unobstructed viewing and is an attractive site for feeding, accommodating half or more of the birds at the feeder. The design features of the purge portal with suspended tray, apertured tray, etc., are the same as for multistage feeders as described above.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain preferred embodiments of the present invention.